Construction of breakwaters



(No Model.)

T'. F. WURTS. CONSTRUCTION OF BRBAKWATERS, SEA WALLS JETTIES, 8w.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE F. VVURTS, OFBRIDGETON, NEI/V JERSEY.

CONSTRUCTION OF BREAKWATERS, SEA-WALLSHIETTIES, 80C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,704, datedSeptember 24, 1889. Application filed June 29,1839. Serial No. 316,052.(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE F. Wun'rs,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bridgeton, Cumberlandcounty, New J ersey, have invented an Improvement in the Construction ofBreakwaters,Sea-falls, Jetties, &c., of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to so construct a sea-wall, breakwater, orjetty that it will be substantial, and material from the sea front ofthe wall will be carried over and deposited back of the wall by theaction of the tide, as fully described hereinafter, reference being hadto theaocompanying drawings, in whieh- Figure 1 is a perspective view ofmy improved sea-wall, jetty, or breakwater, showing a portion of thebeach broken away. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improved seawall,showing a board walk and driveway; and Fig. 3 is a view illustrating aspecial form of my improved sea-wall.

My invention is especially applicable to the construction of seawallsalong ocean fronts, as I have found by experiments that the verticalpiling ordinarily used for this purpose is gradually undermined andwashed away by the action of the water, so that no matter howperfect'such piling or how strong the bulk-head in the first instancethe piling will eventually be undermined and the bulkhead destroyed. Iovercome this difiiculty by first driving two rows of piles, one rowbeing at an angle to the other, and I then tie these piles together, soas to form what may be termed an A-truss, and sheath this piling, asfully described hereinafter. It is thus impossible for the sea to liftthe piling, owing to the fact that the pressure of the sand upon thepile below the waterdevel is exerted to prevent the rise of the pile.

Referring to the drawings, A A are the piles, driven at an angle to eachother in the form of an A truss and united at their upper ends, asshown, the pile A extending some distance above the pile A, for apurpose described hereinafter.

Tying the piles together about midway of their length is a brace=pieceb, and extending from pile to pile are longitudinal. clamps orstringerbars c c and (Z d, as shown in Fig. 1, the bars 0 being at thejunction of the two piles and the bars (I- d in thepresent instancebeing slightly above the cross-braces b. The cross-braces I prefer toplace at about the low-water mark; and secured to the longitudinalstringers d d, as shown in Fig. 1, are vertical planks D, which extendinto the sand and project above the low-water mark, but in this instancenot to the high-water mark, so that the space above the upper edge ofthe planking is open to allow the sea to wash over the top of theplanking and back of the same, thus automatically filling up the spaceback of the piling. As soon as this space is filled the sheathing F isplaced upon the piling to the high-water mark; but this sheathing neednot necessarily be placed at one time, as portions of it may be firstplaced in position, allowing the water to still flow over the sheathingat high water and deposit the sand back of the sheathing. When thehighwater mark is reached, however, the sheathing is placed a trifleabove this point, and then to prevent the waves from breaking over thepiling I place an extra sheathing on the extensions of the piling A, asshown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In constructing a sea-wall on this plan I can place a board Walk M backof the seawall, as shown in Fig. .2, and on the upper extension of thepiling A secure aseat N, as shown in Fig. 2, and where a street extendsto the beach I can hinge the portion 13 to the sheathing F, so as toenable carriages or wagons to pass over the sheathing and wagonway Konto the beach; but in case of high tides this sheathing B is raised andsecured in position so as to throw the water away from the street as'much as possible, although this construction is not absolutelynecessary, as in some instances the street may be built up to the edgeof the sheathing, or the sheathing discontinued a certain distance atthe street-opening.

I do not desire to limit myself to the exact shape of the A truss shown,as other forms of truss may Joe used without departing from myinvention, my object being to form a truss that cannot be pulled outvertically by the action of the sea, as is the case in piling nowcommonly used.

In Fig. 3Ihave shown a construction where extra strength is required.The trusses are not only sheathed part way with vertical planks and partway withhorizontal planks, but in addition to these planks are placedextra vertical sheathing-planks, as clearly,

shown in Fig. 3, and as shown in Fig. 2 the vertical planks maybe usedalone, as in the case of sea-Walls; but I prefer, where circumstancespermit, to use the constructio shown in Fig. 1.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, in a breakwater or jetty,of the piles A A, forming an A-trussf substantially as shown, with across-piece uniting these piles and clamps or stringer-5 bars tying theseries of piles together, with vertical sheathing on the exterior piles,sun

stantially as described.

2. The combination, in a sea-wall, break water, or jetty,of the pilesformed in the shape of an A-truss, the rearpiles extending beyond thejunction, braces connecting the piles together, sheathing. on theexterior face. ofthe piles, and sheathing on the extended tion,substantially as described.

4:. The combination of the A-truss with the extension of the rear pilesextending above the junction of the two piles forming the truss,sheathing on the outer surface of the front pile, with a board walk onthe rear of the sea-wall, and a seat supported by the extension of therear pile, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresenceof two subscribing witnesses.

THEODORE F. WURTS XVitnesses:

FRANK M. PORCH, .HENRY HoWsoN.

